Panlong Tiandi is decorated with paper-cut elements.
The bridge is spruced up.
Panlong Tiandi, a renewal and upgrade of the ancient Panlong Town in Qingpu District, launched a series of activities to mark its “Blooming Jiangnan” season on Friday.
In celebration of the second-year anniversary of Panlong Tiandi’s opening, the event reinterprets intangible cultural heritage aesthetics, deconstructs Jiangnan scenery, and focuses on the new life of paper art.
It specially invites artist Chen Fenwan’s team to use paper-cutting as a medium to explore its poetic and innovative spirit in contemporary times.
A beautiful spring scenery
Via artistic co-creation and scene renewal, it continuously awakens the cultural genes of Jiangnan and Shanghai-style life. This year’s event, themed “Paper Play,” features paper-cutting art installations by Chen, intangible cultural heritage paper-art workshops, and interactive experiences.
Jiangnan’s charm lies in its scenery and culture. Chen deeply integrated Chinese folk paper-cut with Jiangnan’s poetic texture. Centered on “paper-cutting, pink, emotion, and fluidity,” she interprets the new life of Jiangnan’s intangible cultural heritage paper-cutting skills.
Paper-cutting, a symbol of delicate emotions in Jiangnan culture and a core medium in Chen’s art, has evolved over time.
A floral world in Panlong Tiandi
Its visual symbols, after repeated deconstruction and reshaping, present a new look in the contemporary context.
The works adopt “pink” as the main emotional tone, reflecting both Jiangnan’s gentle flavor and the declaration of local renewal.
In Panlong Tiandi’s spring, paper-cutting runs through Jiangnan’s water systems and dwellings, weaving a cross-temporal emotional dialogue.
A 13-meter-diameter giant paper-cutting artwork appears on water, with Jiangnan elements like Buddha’s hands and linden blossoms lightly scattered.
Paper-cut elements are widely featured.
Xianghua Bridge, built in the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) and a witness to Panlong’s past and present, features vigorously extending paper-cutting art installations on its sides, complementing Jiangnan’s auspicious bird patterns and extending the water town’s enduring vitality.
Pavilions, boats, and buildings by the Panlong River are also “wrapped” in paper-cutting, becoming a poetic space for people to pause emotionally.
Panlong Tiandi uses “paper play” as a thread to link online-offline immersive experiences, guiding people to explore Jiangnan.
During the event, the misty corridor bridge in Panlong Tiandi will be transformed into a paper-cutting light theater.
People walk on a bridge.
Paper-cutting patterns grow naturally, connecting old buildings and green waterways to create a “fluid Jiangnan” picture.
The “Panlong Water Market” will experience a comprehensive upgrade during the season, offering a unique market leisure experience with “paper” as the clue.
Panlong Tiandi also launched the “100 Paper-cut Window Panes” project with its businesses, replicating 100 folk old window panes by paper-cutting craftsmen from Shaanxi Province. In collaboration with Yuz Museum, it will also launch “paper-play” handicraft workshops to explore paper’s versatility.
Themed activities will be launched on May 20, or 520, which has emerged as a romantic occasion in China as it is a homophone of “I love you” in Chinese and on Children’s Day.
A spring scenery
Panlong Tiandi in Qingpu is a peaceful respite from the urban grind, where Jiangnan’s watertown blends with modern life. It reimagines the ancient Jiangnan watertown as a modern urban retreat. With a history dating back more than 1,000 years to the Sui Dynasty (AD 581-618), Panlong Town is one of 32 historical protected zones in Shanghai.
As a newly-crowned national-level tourism leisure block, Panlong Tiandi has attracted over 45 million visits in two years.
If you go
Date: Through June 15
Venue: Panlong Tiandi 蟠龙天地
Address: No.8, Lane 123, Panding Road, Qingpu District 蟠鼎路123弄8号